Saturday, February 13, 2010

Robert Pattinson On Life Beyond TwilightThe megastar laments the passing of '80s porn, reveals a fascination with tropical diseases, and dreams of being groped by a lady elephant—again.

COFFEEIt's the unseasonably cold November of 2008 when I go to New York's Bowery Hotel. There's a young man sitting in the garden, wrapped in about nine black sweaters and wearing a wool hat, smoking cigarettes, sipping a latte the size of his head, and furiously making notes on a script in the bitter cold. I have read about teenage girls lighting themselves on fire in front of his hotel, but at the moment Robert Pattinson is warming his hands on a coffee cup.

Hello, I'm Jenny. I think I'm here so you can check me out."Okay. I'm Rob. Um . . . would you like some fries? With gravy?"

Allen Coulter, the director of Hollywoodland and a creative force behind The Sopranos, has sent me. He was thinking about doing this movie—it wasn't quite there yet, but I should "come meet Rob."

Rob. When he came to the United States, he slept on his agent's sofa and then got a small part in a movie called Harry Potter and the Something of Something, which grossed nearly $900 million worldwide. And then he made another one, called Twilight, which grossed $385 million in theaters and almost another $200 million in U.S. DVD sales. Box-office riches, like so much of the female population of this planet, follow him from continent to continent, nursing a raging crush.

Coulter suggested I do some rewrite work on Remember Me (for the record, there is only one credited writer, Will Fetters), the first American release in which Rob will portray a mortal, nonmagical, carbon-based life form of the earthly realm—Salvador Dalí, whom he played in Little Ashes, surely doesn't qualify. As Rob scribbles away on the script's pages, it's clear he is starting his own revision process.

Rob's face is constantly busy—especially his kaleidoscopic eyes, which are continually rolling and dilating, because he is always thinking. Over the course of that latte, he contemplates Jimi Hendrix, French fries, girls, art, beer, his cousin the philosopher, girls, truth, God, his dog, girls, and whether this week's stalker has followed him from L.A. I don't think he could turn his brain off if he wanted to.

Despite the legion of fans trailing him from hotel to hotel, laying siege to each like the Roman army, he is neither fearful nor cocky—he's hungry, curious, forever reaching intellectually. That may not sound like a big deal, but think of the context: Complete strangers want to fuck you, shoot you, be you, buy you, sell you, run their fingers through your hair, watch you have sex, hear you pee, eat chips with you, and kidnap you and stuff you in the trunk of their car. And you? You must know more, more, more about exotic tropical diseases.

Rob and I discover we share a mutual fascination with afflictions that maim and disfigure and disgust: He brings up cancrum oris, in which bacteria eat away at your face until you get kind of a window in the side of your head and the entire world sees your teeth; I mention cyclic vomiting syndrome, a condition in which you puke literally all the goddamn time; he delights in lymphatic filariasis, where parasitic worms burrow into your lymph nodes and can make your balls swell to the size of watermelons, forcing you to tote them around in a wheelbarrow.

We come up with a blockbuster hit movie, entitled Candiru Infestation, about a tiny fish that swims up your urethra and into your urinary tract and lodges in your cock with backward-facing umbrella spikes it shoots from its spine.

"Fucking brilliant! It could be like Finding Nemo!" says Rob. "And the little candiru is lost in the balls! Think of the soundtrack!"

BEER NO. 1Fourteen months later we're in London. New Moon, the second movie in the Twilight saga, has set box-office records for largest midnight opening and biggest opening-day gross. Remember Me, Rob's young-man-in-crisis drama, has wrapped. He has 24 hours before he has to start rehearsals for Bel Ami, based on the Guy de Maupassant novel, in which he plays a bed-hopping social climber.

He is waiting to pick me up in the bar of my hotel. He has ordered himself a pint of beer and, remembering my beverage of choice, a Diet Coke for me. He has the lovely manners of the good son of a good mum.

He says he wants to take me to a particular restaurant nearby, "just a little out-of-the-way place." So out of the way, it turns out, that after wandering around nearly all of Covent Garden, we can't find it. He doesn't seem too surprised, really. Of late he's been getting lost a lot in his own hometown. But then it's been a couple of years since he's actually lived here, and London is confusing as hell anyway.

Considering alternatives, we peek into a crowded café full of the young and beautiful, but he recoils. A few minutes later, when we come to a tiny Mexican place, his hackles go up a bit. Hmm. I ask him whether, at this point, he's able to sniff out crazed fans lurking under the tables.

"Yes. Sure. But last time I was here, the guacamole was bad."

Rob has made no sartorial concessions to Britain's ugliest winter weather in 30 years. A button-down, light Carhartt-like jacket, no gloves. He does have a hat, perhaps the same one he wore in New York. I'm swaddled like the Michelin Man and I'm fucking freezing. He's cheery, unfazed, giggling away. It occurs to me that London seems to afford him a freedom he doesn't have in New York or Los Angeles. And a London night with deserted, snow-piled streets, after an epic storm that paralyzed Heathrow and shut down the Eurostar trains, is like an unbridled romp while going commando.

Without trying, we arrive back where we started, in front of the Covent Garden Hotel. Across the street there's a high-end sex-toy-and-bondage shop called Coco de Mer. I mention that I popped in there earlier (before the National Gallery, thank you), and I tell him about this insane S&M body-harness contraption they have that allows you to dress up like a horse and have a long tail.

"That's so English. I want to do this entire interview wearing it, from an equine point of view," he says, stomping the sidewalk with make-believe hooves. "Seriously. As an experiment in public perceptions. Is the place still open?"

BEER NO. 2We're inside, at a warm corner of the hotel's Brasserie Max, and Rob is having another beer. We're talking about how he copes. "When I was 17 until, I don't know, 20, I had this massive, baseless confidence. This very clear idea of myself and how I would achieve success, which involved making decisions. I saw myself picking up the phone and saying 'Absolutely not' or 'Definitely yes.' Having control. Except you have to figure out whether the way you think at 19 or 20 has any value. And eventually I understood, with all that control, which was probably illusory, I wasn't progressing. So now I'm relinquishing a bit. I'll be a tiny bit naked. Except tonight I won't, because it's fucking freezing and my balls will shrivel up."

He may keep his balls covered in winter, but Allen Coulter says that during the shooting of Remember Me, Rob did bare himself: "It was about control, for him, in the beginning. But he wanted forward motion more than he wanted to protect himself. Really brave—especially for a young guy with a big target on his back."

Rob does seem eager to shed some clothing, to give up the reins.

"Shall we go see about that harness? Seriously, you eventually realize you can't make every single decision. I was always building, always protecting something. At the same time, I seemed to be losing the ability to move. I'd protected myself into checkmate. Even mentally." In that moment, he has a realization: "I can barely remember the last two years. Not like a haze of partying or anything like that. Just . . . it's been crazy."

There's been surreal stuff. Like the time at a charity event in Cannes when two attendees bid nearly $60,000 combined to have Rob give their daughters a kiss on the cheek. There's been scary stuff, though the idea he might truly be at risk strikes him as absurd: "I find it really funny—if I got shot, I would literally be in hysterics. I would be like, 'Are you serious? Jesus Christ, get Zac Efron! He's got more social relevance than I do.'" He's pretty sure there was some good stuff, too. "There was this one time with some elephants on a golf course in Barcelona . . ."

He drifts into a reverie. He gets amazed easily, and at the moment he's fixated on the mysterious green bar snacks. They're sort of like wasabi peas, but not. They're covered in chili powder and look like tiny tumors. He's eating every single one.

"Fuck, these are good. What are they? I want to snort them—they'd clear up my sinuses."

BEER NO. 3Rob's hunger is more than merely metaphorical. He orders two entrees—the mini beef burgers with tomato-and-onion relish and the mini chicken burgers with mango chutney—along with another pint. "I eat so much, I'm like a compulsive eater. I've been eating room service, and I'm always really worried about it, so I choose like six things on the menu and eat them all."

He doesn't want to miss anything, which implies a hint of regret. He didn't always want to be an actor. He modeled. He's a talented guitarist and keyboard player who has toyed with following his older sister Lizzy into pop music. But he's a serious type, and his most serious aspirations involved political speech writing. "It's fascinating. You'd have two or three minutes to affect someone. Make them hear you. Get the message out and maybe it will echo. I quite enjoyed doing press for the first Twilight, because there was a similarity. But after a bit I was ladling it out. If you want people to listen to you, you'd better have something to say. I felt a responsibility to be fascinating. You're bargaining with the audience. Is this enough for them? And that affects the way you look at art."

Art. It's illogical to think he's not allowed to have ideas about it merely because he has helped a lot of people make a lot of money.

"Before, I felt like I couldn't break through anything, including myself. And now it feels a bit as though I've climbed along the side of my brain and am at least looking in. But I know it will take me at least another 10 years before I'm remotely satisfied with anything I do. But with acting you keep trying in the hopes you might be . . . great. But then I think, does wanting to be good or even great, or even just wanting to make art, cheapen the experience?"

I worry his head is going to explode. He answers questions with questions. Doors open onto more doors. This sometimes leads to trouble with scripts: Since he sees every character's point of view, he often needs some sort of distillation. The catch is that unless the distillation somehow encompasses every character's essence, it only causes his imagination to fire more wildly. It's the kaleidoscope-vision thing.

Some people can have the ocean in front of them and just put their big toe in. Rob wants to swim until he drowns, and he's going to try to drink it all up before he goes under. His striving is a source of worry because he can't really tell anybody he wants more: "Please don't make this about me complaining. Please. I'm the luckiest bastard on the planet." He worries he might be selfish. He worries maybe he's a nonhumanist-separatist-weirdo because his most profound moments have been with his dog. And he worries about whether he can be an actor who can reach the masses and still ask for anything.

"If it exists out there—this invisible-creative-spirit-idea thing—then you're the medium through which it travels so everybody can touch it. But . . . what gives you the right to be the medium? What gives you the right to claim it? And then get an agent and say I want $20 million and a fruit basket to be the medium, thank you very much.

"As an actor, you can elevate the human condition or cheapen it. I would assume it's the same with anything you do—you try to elevate and maybe someday you will." An actor may indeed have the ability to raise us, but Rob unconsciously starts speaking sotto voce each time he utters the word actor or any variation of it.

Rob, did you know that every time you say actor or acting you lower your voice to a whisper?He's genuinely startled. "I do?"Yes, so quietly it's like you're saying Negro.He laughs, lightens up. "What if we were 'acting' like 'Negroes'? Then we'd be fucked—we couldn't hear anything. . . ."

BEER NO. 4Rob asks the waiter for another beer. He's talking about an uncle who worked in a steel mill in the Yorkshire town his dad grew up in. Rob's father and his other uncles moved away as soon as they were old enough, but the eldest brother stayed there his whole life.

"They're bulldozing houses, whole streets of houses. And my dad asked him, 'Why stay?' He said, 'Who's going to look after our mom?' And I was just thinking, Jesus fucking Christ, there might be something wrong with my emotional sight, because I'm not sure if I could make that kind of sacrifice. The only emotional connection of relevance is with my dog. My relationship with my dog, it's ridiculous.

"I think you need to be able to break through what you think about yourself to try to make any sort of art. I used to play music all the time, and the most amazing part was the freedom that came with kicking myself in the ass, letting go, and surprising myself."

He tried to let go a little bit with the photo shoot accompanying this interview—it wasn't easy.

"I really hate vaginas. I'm allergic to vagina. But I can't say I had no idea, because it was a 12-hour shoot, so you kind of get the picture that these women are going to stay naked after, like, five or six hours. But I wasn't exactly prepared. I had no idea what to say to these girls. Thank God I was hungover."

Is your mom going to have something to say about it?"Oh, God." He puts his head in his hands, shrugs. "Well, she quite enjoyed when I got her cable." It's not that Rob's mother now spends all night watching Skinemax in her London home. "No, no! God, no! It's just that there's nakedness all over the place now. But this shoot, it's kind of eighties nakedness, you know? If you look at porn in, like, the eighties, there was something kind of quaint about it, quite sweet—like this little naked community. The people who made it liked it, they had respect for it. Not remotely like the porn that's available now. No community in it at all. It's just everything, everywhere."

CANDYIn the U.K., Smarties are made of chocolate and are kind of like M&M's in weird colors like mauve and teal but somehow more delicious. Rob's not really a dessert guy, yet he's rapidly hoovering my last packet of Smarties. "Amazing. I've eaten like 5,000 of these already. See what you have to deal with?"

In Remember Me he plays a guy whose issues are eerily like his own. Tyler is a young man who has retreated into himself, but then he meets a woman, becomes conflicted, and has to choose whether to remain in lockdown or step into life and the world.

"Tyler is so aware of his actions. But he has no idea whether they're of any value at all. Can you be a person if you live in the bubble? He's stuck in the middle. At the same time, he's lucky to have the choice. Conflict is innate in a lucky person."

What attracted you to the role?"I'm a lucky person. Thank God. And I'm conflicted. Thank God."

He tells me about a book he read called Eat the Rich, by P.J. O'Rourke (full disclosure: P.J. was married briefly to my sister, though Rob had no idea). He was drawn to a part that says something like: One man's wealth does not mean another man's poverty—and vice versa. Rob's slightly embarrassed to voice this idea.

He is unsure whether to feel guilty, to bask in it all, or both. Thing is, there aren't any rules for a life as extraordinary as his is right now. He tells me an elephant story. Not the one about Barcelona elephants—one about some he'd met recently in California.

"Did you know elephants purr? It's completely scary if you don't know what it is. They purr like cats, but their heads are so deep they sound like velociraptors. You feel it in the ground under your feet. So this big female started sniffing my foot—big female elephant, that is. She sniffed it so hard it came up off the pavement like her trunk was a vacuum cleaner. Then she took my entire body in her mouth. I was holding on to her head, and as I slowly let go she tightened her grip really carefully until I'm just upside down in her mouth and she's going through my pockets with her trunk, looking for peppermints. It was the best day of my life."

So you gave up control to an elephant, got groped, mugged, had your candy tugged at—and it was glorious? "Yeah. So beautiful you can't imagine. And the baby elephant was so excited that it sprinted out and did its routine in five seconds and then curtsied to everybody. It was actually laughing. Brilliant. Did you know they can also do imitations of other animals? A horse, a chicken, a monkey—these elephants could, anyway. They were movie elephants. One had written a screenplay, and one really wants to direct."

He laughs. He was in Los Angeles, in discussions to star with Sean Penn in Water for Elephants, an adaptation of Sara Gruen's novel. The elephants are actors like him, and he wonders if he might, on some cosmic level, be a bit like them.

"Do you know how they die? The elephant guy told me their molars get ground down from eating wood but regenerate like six times. And after that they slowly starve to death. Which is poignant, but that must also be what gives them time to get to the elephant graveyard. They're incredibly designed creatures. I mean, people hang on way too fucking long. If I knew that when my teeth fell out, that was it . . . Wow. The best day of my life. Beautiful, beautiful day."

A few moments later, Rob announces he's going to get a cab home and excuses himself.

Can I walk you? I don't like you going out there all by yourself."I'll be okay."

30 comments:

Since Rob's mother reads everything about him, I wonder what she thought of this. Did Rob realize what the shoot consisted of when he agreed to do this, and the video, OMG, I bet hie mother got a kick out of that. Don't know if I like this or not, takes away from my good ole' boy image.

That's exactly how I feel. I figure Rob is the kind of adventurous, balsy type of person who will do anything once, and he was probably told this would be something a little edgier and stylish, and he was like "Yeah, let's do it, it will be fun." Whatever people intended though, the end result displeased me to say the least. I was honestly shocked without the benefit of finding it hot.

I thought it was very gutsy of Rob. This is sooooo not his current audience, but demonstrates his desire to broaden his space. He looked great. Too much nakedness with the women (in the article, he says he didn't know exactly what was coming), but I loved the different takes with Rob. I hope his fans understand and accept that he needs to grow.

Like someone said yesterday "this will differentiate the 'Rob' fans from the 'Edward' fans. I'm sure he appreciates the notoriety that Twilight has brought him but, if he plans to have a long career he has to break out of that mold. The truth is we can't say for sure if this is or isn't OOC for him. We don't personally know him. To me he seems to have always had a very quirky, tongue in cheek sense of humor.

I love his eyes in the cover shot. I think the word is smoldering! I am a Rob fan all the way! Twilight is great, but I am really looking forward to Remember Me. It seems to me from the scenes and the trailer, more of Rob is on the screen than there is in Twilight. Even Rob has said something about Edward being about the hair and the pose. Edward is like Bella's arm candy, IMO, the ideal, unrealistic boyfriend every girl has visions of while grownig up. The character in Remember Me seems more like a real person. I like seeing his eyes rather than the contacts, too!

@MissVanity - I posted something similar on another blog. He's not Edward Cullen, he's Robert Pattinson. He doesn't want to be associated with Edward for the rest of his career. All of these people saying they won't be fans anymore are silly, in my opinion. He is a 23-year old man. He is intelligent, conflicted, confused, and trying to navigate through a storm that Twilight produced. I think the pictures and the article are a great insight into who he truly is. I am a fan and will continue to be. I look forward to what he does next and who he will become in the future.

CL.. well said.I agree with all you said except I am not sure I agree that JL wrote a piece that depicts the real Rob. There are small snippets of Rob in there but mostly I see JL writing her interpretation in her style . Which as I have said before is rather disjointed and confusing.

I guess i was a little surprised at the change of a photo shoot and interview this was, but at the same time im glad we are getting to see more of how Rob is, not some fictional character. . .you know? i love twilight and everything but as a person i think Rob seems to be a very interesting person and im glad that more of that is starting to come out. Im excited to see that he seems to be breaking outta the mold of Edward Cullen and stepping into the light . .. stepping into his own shoes u know? i would not like to see him or his career suffer because he cant leave that behind, im not trying to insult anyone or anything but take Harry Potter for example i haven't really seen "Harry" Daniel Radcliffe do much that wasn't Harry related, and if he does i really haven't seen it. he will always be known as "harry" i wouldn't want to see that of Rob. i think he's a great actor and has the possibility of becoming a really talented and recognized actor in the near future. Despite all the nakedness (as rob said) in the photos i think it came out just fine, yes its sexual but not in a dirty porn kinda of way. I think Rob said that when he mentioned it was eighties nakedness, i think it was done artistic and not vulgar. i guess all in all i give him props for putting himself out there in this interview. he gave us another side of the mystery that is Rob lol. We got a little preview of how he's mind works and add to the sex symbol that alot of us think rob is.

I've got a sense from the article that Rob is not in the business just to make money. He doesn't want to be "cheap".

And remember this is "Details" magazine! Adam Lambert did a racy photoshoot with the maganzie a couple months ago, too.

So, although this group of photos wouldn't be my most favourite photos of Rob, I applaud his bravery. He must have placed so much trust to the photograhper in order to get the job done; and that shows you how professional he is in this business. You have to admit that those photos are beautiful.

I just hope that next time he would know what he would be getting himself to. Judging from the interview he didn't know exactly what the photoshoot theme would be before he said yes. I'm not say that he should say no... just a knowledge of what he would be getting himself to would be a good thing.

I agree with the last three comments, the pictures are not that bad they're just different and new, I never think that he will do something like that but like I said they're not that vulgar ,I'm a fan of twilight but after the movie I become a fan of Rob too and I love how he is, I love his work, he's a good actor and I hope he's going to be more than just the "guy that do Edward Cullen" once.

I'm no longer a fan. What was he thinking? His moral fiber isn't questionable anymore........it stinks! His tripe about how he didn't quite know what was going on, is ludicrous. He gave the same vague answer about doing nude scenes in his other film. This young man is shaping up to be rubbish. I no longer deem him worthy of my attention or support in anything else he does.

What he says in the interview is he didn't realize these models would be naked the whole time for hours on end - not that he wasn't aware of what the photoshoot would be like. Even though he is a dude I think most people would feel embarrassed in that situation.

When asked about the result, he ever so diplomatically changes the subject to what porn was like in the eighties when compared to now. That's deflecting right there. If he had anything good to say about the photos he would. That shows me he wasn't happy about it either.

I wish it were possible for actors to do this purely on an experimental basis, just to see if it works, and when it doesn't that it were possible to scrap the whole thing. But unfortunately this sort of thing is too expensive to be done purely on an experimental basis. IMO this photoshoot failed as an "artistic" project, but it was obviously done by professionals of the trade, who charge a lot for their work, and they must be paid. The photos had to come out.

I think Rob is just going to shrug it off as a thing worth trying that didn't quite work out, and carry on. One has to have to have that kind of attitude in show business, or one would probably sink into depression and self-destructive behaviour. I like him as the well-adjusted, sane guy that he is. I'll wait for the next movies, hoping he'll continue to grow as he has, and for the next photoshoot, hoping it won't be quite as silly as this one. Reading the interview I can tell he's still the same lovable guy. One smile from him makes my whole day. I just like the dude too damn much.

Lucy were you ever a fan to begin with? I do not think that what you are saying here merits anyone even attempting to persuade you that you should not judge someone on a magazine article.You have made up your (tiny little) mind so be it.

I enjoyed the photos. As a photographer myself i found them very captivating. And just bc he doens't like the private parts of women doesn't mean he is gay (as many blogs are saying). I don't like looking at the private parts of a man...does that make me gay?

I like the photo shoot myself. He is clearly trying to seperate himself from the Twilight franchise (which I don't believe that he thought it was going to be as big as it was)and trying to make a long term career by opening up to a wider audiance. I think this was a wise career move for him and I wish him well as I believe he will definately have a long and sucessful career as long as he isn't only associated with Twilight. Keep this in mind for all you people out there that can't seem to tell the difference between Rob and the Edward character- It would be sad if 10 years down the line someone sees him and would say, "Hey, weren't you the kid from that vampire movie?" Instead of him having a successful career based on his own acting gift?

I have been a Robert Pattinson fan for some time now. I have loved him in many roles including those in Little Ashes and The Haunted Airman. I was very much looking forward to seeing him in Remember Me. After reading his interview in Details I'm not so sure. I dig the photoshoot and Robert looks amazing as always. The edgy nudity doesn't offend me one bit. What does offend me is his comment about vaginas. As a female gynecologist, I not only take care of mine but those of many other women on a daily basis. Even though it is work, I would never say something as idiotic, "I really hate vaginas. I'm allergic to vagina" Even if he is gay, this comment comes across as arrogant and rude. My first thought is either he's gay or just a douche. I hope it's the former for his sake. This is very disappointing coming from someone who is making his fortune from the throngs of female fans that adore him. He needs to show some respect towards women. If I were his mother I would be very ashamed.

@ Dinamarie..maybe you should go to some of these robsessed web sites and read up on what some of these so called women he is supposed to respect want to do to him. He is objectified. Truly it is quite an eye opener and in many cases just plain smutty. All in the name of good clean fun of course??I understand that the way he was SUPPOSED to have said this will cause him slack. (we do not know if they are his exact words because it is a piece written for a magazine by someone else NOT Rob)BUT I wonder if we are being a little unfair to believe that he is being disrespectful to women when he makes a silly comment about this subject after spending 12 hours at a photo shoot with naked ladies. He is a young man, IMO easily embarrassed, who has a habit of saying some pretty silly things that are not meant to be taken seriously. Maybe you should frown more on the person writing the piece for putting these comments out there. Someone who was supposed to be his friend and he probably trusted.I respect your right to believe what you want to believe, but please, arrogant,rude,a douche, isn't that a bit harsh.

So did anyone mind the Negro comments...the heck with the photos. He needs to understand he can't make comments like that. It makes me think the speech he gave for Haiti relief were words and he really didn't care at all. I really hope that wasn't the case.

Yeah I didnt like that comment at all. The interviewer was out of line and so was he. Saying something negative about another persons race is never cool even when it suppose to be a joke. Whats up with that; 1st John Mayer and now Rob *smh*. Whos next.

To be fair to Rob, the comments may sound worse without the benefit of the entire context of the conversation. I couldn't get a good sense of the tone of the conversation either. That is the fault of the writer. Perhaps he was just trying to be funny? I do think he has been a breath of fresh air and hope that he will redeem himself soon. Shouldn't be that hard to forgive such a lovely guy.

Jeez, what a bunch of lame ignorant comments. The author of this article is Lena Horne's granddaughter and is-"black" "African American" or whatever the name du jour is. She was commenting that he seemed ashamed of the word "actor" like he was saying "negro". Furthermore- the British have a saying "A guy goes to the doctor and says he is allergic to vaginas/vaginae- and the doctor asks him how he knows, the guy replies "I swell up" sorry you don't get British humor. What a bunch of narrow minded prigs!!! Edward Cullen is a fictional character-Rob is a real life, red blooded male!

Thanks, Kathy! How funny is that! I wish they would have explained the joke to us crazy Americans, because there are idiots already trying to say he is gay!! I'm sure a bunch of guys wish he were, and it wouldn't matter if he was, but I don't think so! I knew there had to be an explaination, as nothing he has ever said or done would make him seem like such a jerk before this, ya know? I'm sure he's horrified by how this is being received, he seems like such a sweet guy. It makes sense in the proper context, considering he is a young, fully functioning male, to have an allergic reaction! LOL!

I thought it was a FANTASTIC interview. It showed a smart, sarcastic, and silly young man who is in search of himself. I adore the Human form and that Photo shoot really exposed it well. I think that was a meaning behind it, having them so exposed, I bet that is the way Robert Pattinson feels all the time exposed. You have to be able to look past the nakedness and see the bigger picture, whatever your "bigger picture" might be. Everyone will see and take something different from this, but that is why it is called art.

Thanks for sharing that with us, Kathy. It wasn't clear that he was trying to be funny. Details is an American magazine and the joke is not mainstream here in America. What you posted makes a lot of sense. Obviously, I am still a huge fan or I wouldn't still be following this thread!

@Kathy...British humor aside, I don't think my comment was lame or ignorant per se...I don't know this writer from Adam, so I wouldn't know that she was "black", "african-american", or whatever the name du jour is...I know that I am Black, and that there are things that we all say in private, that could be misconstrued in a public forum...the point is I do like R. Pattinson and I would hope that anyone who's work I admire and pay my hard earned money for would not be a blatant racist so I asked for clarification on what other people thought was being said in this article...

1) Nudity is a part of life - why is it such a big deal if it's photographed? It's not like Rob was doing hardcore porn for the cameras. The whole shoot was very tasteful. He's not even cupping a breast! Come on.2) If you've ever watched any sort of interview with Rob (and you aren't a complete moron - don't worry, I realize that most people are), then you'd know that Rob is sarcastic as hell. Not to mention he's British. It's sort of their thing. So why does everyone always take everything he says so seriously? Allergic to vagina? Come on people, that's funny, not ignorant or disrespectful or whatever you want to call it.3) Rob didn't bring up the word "negro", the interviewer did! Not to mention "negro" isn't technically a derogatory term anyway.

I understand if maybe the naked human form isn't really your thing, and therefore you didn't really enjoy the photoshoot... but not liking Rob as a result of his own choices to participate in something new? Sorry people, you were all born naked. Deal with it.

For me this isn't about clinging to the image of Edward and not wanting Rob to grow as an actor. Tired of people using that as an excuse to defend this. Playing a character in a film is different from a self-promotional photoshoot. That's not a character in these pics, that's Rob taking orders from a photographer and posing. BIG DIFFERENCE. But more to the point, this goes against ROB's personality and offbeat tastes. He likes to think of himself as anti-establishment, e.g. not having a publicist. He's got this rebellious streak I love. But this shoot is anything but. It's a cliche, '80's porn-style or not. It seems self-indulgent to me. It's too conceptualized to be edgy. Never in a million years did I think Rob would sell out to the notion that he has to play the single, playboy card to be successful. If he wants to relinquish control great, just do it in a constructive way, i.e. hire a a good publicist. He's already being controlled! This just isn't the Rob I've come to know and love through over the last 2 years. Now fine, maybe Efron did a racy shoot as well but let's face it, Rob > Efron. You will NEVER see Kristen doing a shoot like this. Loved the interview, not loving the pics. They are overkill. The models are distracting. I just need him. I do think something shady went down, perhaps he wasn't told the models would be naked the whole time, or wasn't told about the nudity at all. He probably felt he had no choice but to go through with it. Don't be surprised if you see some attempts at damage control from his team.